Since this is my first In a Vase on Monday post on Inspired Southerner, let me begin with an explanation.

As a novice Southern gardener, In a Vase on Monday, or IAVOM, is my biggest blogging inspiration. If all else fails, I can go in my yard and figure out something to plunk in a vase and write about. Plus, it’s a great way to connect with other gardeners.

Flame-haired and cheerful, the visitor chatting on my carport was the niece of the original owner of our 1960 home. She had popped by while driving home to Virginia from vacation in Florida. I wasn’t expecting her. I was in leggings and an old t-shirt and in the middle of laundry, but when she introduced herself I was curious to glean some house history.

Many years ago when I went to Boston for St. Patrick’s Day weekend, I got to experience my first ‘flower show,’ and what I didn’t know it at the time, flower shows are a big tradition in March in the northeast. Since I’d never been to a flower show, I really didn’t know what to expect. Flower shows are similar to a home and garden show in the South, but with lots of blooming flowers people can purchase. [Read more…] about Spring flower shows feature Alabama’s Redneck Rosarian